Impact of health professional recommendation on weight loss

An article recently published in BMJ Open examines the effect that health professional advice to lose weight has on overweight and obese adults.  'The impact of a health professional recommendation on weight loss attempts in overweight and obese British adults: a cross-sectional analysis' concluded from the results of a British survey that advice to lose weight appears to increase motivation to lose weight, but that only a minority of overweight or obese adults receive such advice. Better training for HPs in delivering brief weight counselling could offer an opportunity to improve obese patients’ motivation to lose weight.

Jackson SE, Wardle J, Johnson F, et al. BMJ Open 2013;3:e003693. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2013-003693 (Open Access)